Garage doors are increasingly becoming our primary entry point to our homes, even for our children. For this reason it is essential that they understand how important it is to understand how to use them to best avoid any serious injury.
For this reason, it is important to take time to read these recommendations and show your children how to use the garage door safely at all times.
First, show them how the whole system works. By nature, children are extremely curious. They want to touch everything, experiment, and see how things work. Even the mechanisms to protect them, such as the automatic reversal systems, may fascinate an inquisitive young mind to the degree they may try something dangerous.
Take time to explain to them that a garage door is extremely heavy, anywhere from 125 to 400 lb. (60 to 180 kilos). The garage door spring(s) make the effort of opening and closing the garage door much easier, this is why the garage door opener seems to work so effortlessly.
Some Things For You To Keep In Mind:
The Garage Door Spring System The two most common types are torsion (coiled springs) located over the head of the door, and extension springs, placed above the horizontal tracks. Neither of these systems should ever be touched. Advise children that if they see a spring broken into two pieces, they should tell you about it immediately.
Lifting cables These are located on each side of the door. The cables are attached to the bottom of the door and wind up on drums installed on a steel tube. They are under extreme tension and should never be considered like guitar strings that can be played with. Again, these are other components that should never be touched.
The Photo-Eye Reversal System These are the two small units installed on the vertical tracks on each side of the door, about 4 to 6 inches from the floor. Alone, they are not dangerous, but they play a major role in safety. They must be in perfect alignment to operate correctly, thus you should avoid knocking them or doing anything that moves them out of alignment. This can happen easily with a trash can or a bicycle, if they are not working properly, the force of the lowering door could hit something or someone.
A Garage Door Is Not A Toy
While the door is moving Explain to youngsters that they should remain a safe distance from the door and wait for it to be completely open or closed before entering or leaving the garage.
The remote controls and control panel Never ask young children to operate the garage door with either the remote or the exterior keypad. The keypad should always be placed at least 5 feet (1.5 m) above the floor and both controls should be out of the reach of small children.
Never climb on the door Double garage doors come with reinforcement struts on the interior side of the door. Unfortunately, their placement looks somewhat like a ladder, but under no circumstances should they be used to climb on the garage door, even more so when the garage door is opening…
Never put little hands or fingers in section joints If your garage door doesn’t have an electric opener, you should instruct your children to never close the door by slipping their fingers between the sections of the door. Ensure you have lift handles on the exterior as well as the interior of the door.
Ask your older kids to be on the watch They should always keep an eye on their little brothers or sisters when they are using the garage door, only letting them pass once the door is completely open. NEVER allow racing to leave the garage by using the open and close buttons on the control panel. If your auto-reversal systems are malfunctioning, a little one could trip while running and be injured by the door.
Keep the access code to your house secret This might not seem obvious at first, but for those who use the exterior keypad, ask them not to reveal this code to their friends, and hide the code with their hand when pushing the buttons to open the door. As we said before, that natural curiosity of children could extend to a friend trying to use your garage door in your absence could lead to unintended consequences.
And if your garage door needs a tune-up, a garage door repair or even replacement be sure to call a name you can trust! Integrity Door Services - 832-641-0402
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